A native of Massachusetts, Dean Bilionis was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tar Heel and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Economics and English. He graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1982, serving on the Board of Student Advisors. Upon graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Dean Bilionis then entered private practice with the firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston, representing major national and multinational corporations in litigation. His interest in constitutional law and commitment to the cause of equal justice led Dean Bilionis back to North Carolina, where he served for several years in the Office of the Appellate Defender as an assistant appellate defender representing indigent criminal defendants, with an emphasis on capital punishment appeals. He joined the UNC-Chapel Hill law faculty in 1988, focusing his research and teaching on diverse issues in constitutional law and criminal law, including the transformation of judicial review in the Supreme Court, the Constitution's relationship to substantive criminal law, the Eighth Amendment and capital punishment, and state constitutional law. In 1999, he was appointed the UNC's first Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law.
In 2005, Bilionis was appointed Dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and Nippert Professor of Law. He is a nationally recognized scholar in the areas of constitutional law and criminal law and procedure, with his work published in leading law journals such as the Michigan Law Review, Texas Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, University of California-Los Angeles Law Review, Emory Law Journal, North Carolina Law Review, and Law and Contemporary Problems. He has taught constitutional law, criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence, as well as seminars on capital punishment, constitutional law and theory, criminal law and procedure, and sentencing.
Books
Book Chapters
Articles, Essays & Book Reviews
See Dean Bilionis' CV for presentations given prior to coming to UC.
Lou’s article, Conservative Reformation, Popularization, and the Lessons of Reading Criminal Justice as Constitutional Law, 52 UCLA L. Rev. 979 (2005), was cited in Alice Ristroph, Is American Constitutional Law in Crisis?: Is Law? Constitutional Crisis and Existential Anxiety, 25 Const. Comment. 431 (2009). He was quoted in Event Shines Light on Domestic Violence, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 22 , 2009.
Lou was quoted in UC Raises $91M in Funds, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 23, 2009.
Lou’s article, Legitimating Death, 91 Mich. L. Rev. 1643 (1993), was cited in Justin F. Marceau, Lifting the Haze of Baze: Lethal Injection, the Eighth Amendment, and Plurality Opinions, 41 Ariz. St. L.J. 159 (2009). He was quoted in UC Deans Face Balancing Act, Cincinnati.com, Aug. 4, 2009.
Lou was quoted in Blake D. Morant, Reflections of a Novice: Four Tenets for a New Dean, 40 U. Tol. L. Rev. 385 (2009).
Two of Lou’s articles were cited:
Lou was quoted in Minorities, Poor, Lag in Law Schools, The News Record, Nov. 25, 2008.
Lou participated in a panel discussion on The Presidency and the Federal Courts: Historical Reflections hosted by the Cincinnati Chapter of the Federalist Society at its program on The Presidency and the Courts. Other speakers included President George W. Bush, former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and former Solicitor General Paul Clement.
Lou's article, Conservative Reformation, Popularization, and the Lessons of Reading Criminal Justice as Constitutional Law, 52 UCLA L. Rev. 979 (2005), was cited in Stephen W. Gard, Bearing False Witness: Perjured Affidavits and the Fourth Amendment, 41 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 445 (2008).
Lou received the University of Cincinnati's Just Community Award, in recognition for his work in helping to launch the Freedom Center Journal, a new scholarly publication and joint venture between the College of Law and the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Lou also was recognized for his support of the Civil Protection Order Clinic, which prepares students on representing victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, as well as for his service as Chair of the UC|21 Diversity Task Force Steering Committee.
Lou's article, The New Scrutiny, 51 Emory L.J. 481 (2002), was cited in Christopher J. Roederer, Democracy and Tort Law in America: The Counter-revolution, 110 W. Va. L. Rev. 647 (2008). He was quoted in Churches Mark 150th, 100th Years, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 9, 2008, at 2B.
Lou spoke at the UC Law Alumni Association Spring Alumni Luncheon and at the College's Admissions Open House. He hosted College's Senior Banquet.
Lou hosted dinners and receptions for Martha Nussbaum (Marx Lecturer), Hon. Shirley S. Abrahamson (Judge-in-Residence), John C. Coffee (Chesley Distinguished Visiting Professor), and the judges here for Rendigs Products Liability Moot Court Competiton.
Several of Lou's articles were cited:Lou was quoted in Douglas Knehans Named New CCM Dean, Cincinnati Enquirer, Apr. 1, 2008, at 1B.
Lou's article, Criminal Justice After the Conservative Reformation, 94 Geo. L.J. 1347 (2006), was cited in Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., Harmless Constitutional Error and the Institutional Significance of the Jury, 76 Fordham L. Rev. 2027 (2008).
Lou moderated a panel on Representing the Unpopular Client at the College. He spoke on First Amendment Freedom of Association Protection for Fraternities and Sororities at 11th National Fraternal Law Conference held in Cincinnati.
Lou participated in panel discussion on Ethical Ramifications of Conflicts of Interest at Dinsmore & Shohl's Ethics, Professionalism, and Substance Abuse: Conflicts of Interest CLE seminar.
Lou serves as vice chair of the Council of Deans at UC and serves on UC's Diversity Council. He served on an action team on effective governance as part of the Cincinnati USA Chamber's Agenda 360 initiative. He was invited to participate in a conference on Legal Education at the Crossroads held at University of South Carolina.
Lou attended the ABA Mid-Year Meeting and Deans' Workshop in Los Angeles.
Lou hosted a meeting of the Board of Visitors at the College.
Two of Lou's articles were cited:Lou presided at the College's 175h anniversary gala celebration with Chris Collingsworth, John Grisham, and Governor Ted Strickland. He attended the AALS Annual Meeting in New York City.
Lou's article, Process, the Constitution, and Substantive Criminal Law, 96 Mich. L. Rev. 1269 (1998), was cited in Morris B. Hoffman, The Myth of Factual Innocence, 82 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 663 (2007).
Lou was quoted in:Lou published Commemorating Seventy-Five Years of the University of Cincinnati Law Review, 75 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1 (2006) (with Michael Solimine).
Lou's article, Conservative Reformation, Popularization, and the Lessons of Reading Criminal Justice as Constitutional Law, 52 UCLA L. Rev. 979 (2005), was cited in Richard E. Myers, Detector Dogs and Probable Cause, 14 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 1 (2006).
Lou was quoted in A New CCM Trio?, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 4, 2007, at 1E.
Lou attended the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference in Washington, D.C.
Lou attended the annual ABA meeting in San Francisco and visited with Bay-area UC alumni, including a graduate from the Class of 1930. He gave a welcoming address to the College of Law Class of 2010 during Orientation Week.
Lou hosted the College's semi-annual Board of Visitors meeting and participated in the Corporate Law Center Advisory Board meeting. He hosted the Constitution Day program on Thurgood Marshall and the Burlingame Lecture with Michael Powell.
Lou presided at the College's 175th Anniversary Kickoff celebration (with William Howard Taft and UC President Nancy Zimpher) and dinner. He held meetings with alumni and conducted a firm visit.
Lou was selected to serve as Chair of the College-Conservatory of Music Dean Search Committee and as a member of the UC Diversity Council.
Several of Lou's articles were cited:He was quoted in Craig Lawyer Learned Law in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 10, 2007, at 2B.
Lou's article, Process, the Constitution, and Substantive Criminal Law, 96 Mich. L. Rev. 1269 (1998), was cited in Assaf Hamdani, Mens Rea and the Cost of Ignorance, 93 Va. L. Rev. 415 (2007); and Eric Tennen, Is the Constitution in Harm's Way? Substantive Due Process and Criminal Law, 8 Boalt J. Crim. L. 3 (2004).
Lou was quoted in Law College Honors Noted Alums, Cincinnati Post, May 1, 2007, at B3.
Lou moderated two events in the Irving and Selma Harris Distinguished Visitor Series - Hon. William McClain and Hon. William J. Keating, Jr. He moderated a panel discussion at the Glenn M. Weaver Institute of Law and Psychiatry symposium, Law, Ethics, Psychiatry and the Human Genome.
Lou hosted guest judges to the 2007 Rendigs Products Liability Moot Court Competition and presided at the Senior Banquet. His article, Eighth Amendment Meanings from the ABA's Moratorium Resolution, 61 L. & Contemp. Probs. 29 (1998), was cited in Corinna Barrett Lain, Furman Fundamentals, 82 Wash. L. Rev. 1 (2007).
Lou visited Shandong University in Jinan, China to develop relationships with their School of Law. He delivered a lecture there on Five Leading Developments in Contemporary American Constitutional Law Scholarship.
Lou concluded 10-month project as chair of the steering committee of the President's UC|21 Diversity Task Force with submission of final report to the President's Executive Committee and report to the Board of Trustees.
Lou attended the annual Ohio Bench/Bar/Deans Conference in Newark, Ohio and the ABA Mid-Year Meeting and Law School Deans' Workshop in Miami. He delivered remarks at the Law Review's Banquet commemorating its 75th Anniversary.
Lou visited with College of law alumni in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
Lou's article, Legitimating Death, 91 Mich. L. Rev. 1643 (1993), was cited in Scott W. Howe, Furman's Mythical Mandate, 40 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 435 (2007).
Lou was quoted in the latest issue of UC Magazine. He attended the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Lou's article, Lawyers, Arbitrariness, and the Eighth Amendment, 75 Tex. L. Rev. 1301 (1997) (with Richard A. Rosen), was cited in Leona D. Jochnowitz, Missed Mitigation: Counsel's Evolving Duty to Assess and Present Mitigation at Death Penalty Sentencing, 43 Crim. L. Bull. 1 (2007).
Lou published Commemorating Seventy-Five Years of the University of Cincinnati Law Review, 75 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1 (2006) (with Michael Solimine).
Lou's article, Conservative Reformation, Popularization, and the Lessons of Reading Criminal Justice as Constitutional Law, 52 UCLA L. Rev. 979 (2005), was cited in Richard E. Myers, Detector Dogs and Probable Cause, 14 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 1 (2006).
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